But, back to the question at hand, what kind of creature would prey on that Chamax?
BG,
It's either big, fast, and digs well or it's
several things that are big, fast, and dig well. Consider the following suppositions:
- The story in
DA5 somewhat implies a solitary creature, but I always liked the idea of hunting pairs with one digging towards the maternal as the other deals with the aroused Chamax hunters.
- Nothing evolves in a vacuum, evolution is an arms race of sorts. This means the Chamax bug's "acid" must have evolved in conjunction with something else and that something else being a neutralizing agent, a resistant substance, or a mixture of both. I'll go with a mixture, the carnivores are somewhat resistant to the acid and can produce a neutralizing agent.
- The Chamax bugs are Great Dane sized, so I figured the Chamax carnivores would be roughly grizzly bear sized. They'd be multi-legged too, just as the Chamax sophonts and bugs are, because that's the body plan that won out early on in the planet's evolutionary history.
- The Chamax carnivores would have a radio sense, just as most Chamax animals did according to
DA5. This RF sense may have caused to their attraction the Chamax sophonts underground structures, the carnivores were picking up stray RF signals from the sophonts electrical equipment.
So, my suppositions give us:
- An eight legged "beetle" the size of a grizzly bear with an armored carapace. The creature's "head", really just a feeding cluster similar to the bugs', is normally recessed beneath the carapace and can be extended for feeding or to spew an acid neutralizing agent. The creature's forelegs are evolved for digging much like a wolverine or mole. The carapace material is somewhat resistant to the Chamax bugs' acid and is ablative. The carapace material is shed in sheets once acid contacts it.
- The Chamax carnivores hunt in reproductive pairs. A pair take time to slow triangulate on a Chamax bug maternal's position not only noting the location but the depth of the maternal's burrow. A carnivore pair will spend days patiently determining a burrow's location and depth while also scouting the terrain around the burrow.
- While scouting for the maternal's burrow, the carnivores will avoid questing bug hunters of at all possible. There are even indications that the carnivores can jam a bug hunter's radio signals when in close range. Hunting pairs of carnivores have been known to stalk and destroy individual bug hunters when their movements are blocked. Carnivores have also been observed destroying lone hunters in what only can be surmised is an effort to reduce the number of defenders a maternal may have.
- Once the burrow is located, the hunting pair will move rapidly to a point where they can dig for it. They will not usually attempt to enlarge the Chamax bugs' own access tunnels to the burrow but will dig their own tunnel instead. As one carnivore digs, the other stand watch for aroused hunters. This "overwatch" hunter aggressively destroys the bug hunters that first approach even to the point of rolling on them. As the numbers of hunters increase, the digging carnivore will still find it necessary to interrupt digging and defend itself occasionally. Both hunters also "sweat" an agent that partially neutralizes the bugs' acid and will regurgitate the same on one another.
- If a defense is too vigorous or the chosen tunnel route to difficult for digging, the carnivores will abandon their attempt. They usually will return later either after destroying more solitary hunters or scouting another route to dig.
- When a carnivore breaks into the bug maternal's burrow, it will partially curl up and thrash violently about to crush or otherwise disable the "palace guard" present in the small chamber. Once the guard is dispatched, the carnivore collapses the access tunnel dug by the bugs and begins to feed. Both hunters will take turns feeding and standing "overwatch" near the access tunnel they dug.
- After rapidly devouring, but not digesting, most of the maternal's 5000kg bulk, the carnivores withdraw from the area and return to their own burrow which could be kilometers distant. There they'll enter a more quiescent state until they need to feed again.
How's that? Nasty enough? Having a pair of hungry 500kg armored beetles dig their way into your house because they "heard" your radio would be excuse enough for poisoning them off the face of the planet, don't you think?
Regards,
Bill
All praise Whipsnade. Zooligical visionary and sci-fi genius.
